Give Me Shelter
by ImagineCharlotte
Summary: When towny Marco Bodt is uprooted from his comfotable world and urged to move to the city with his estranged cousin, more than his own life is thrown for a loop. From simple quarrels to full-blown bar brawls, regular restaurant drama and scandals to pain and heartbreak, Marco will find out just what his cousin has been up to in the big city. AN: OC involved, not main character


**Chapter 1**

_Three Days_

Three days. In three days, Marco's life would be flipped upside down and shaken like a snow globe. He had only just finished his second year of college when his parents announced that they were filing for divorce. Of course this had come as a surprise. He knew his family wasn't cookie-cutter perfect, but he was sure they were happy. _Apparently not..._ he thought with a heavy sigh, falling back onto his bed. His eyes traveled from the ceiling over to the right. Three large suitcases sat in the corner of his room, filled to the brim with his belongings. As if the news of divorce wasn't traumatic enough, his parents later informed him that he'd be staying with his cousin in the city. Being a commuting college student, Marco didn't exactly have the option to stay in a dorm, away from the turmoil that would become his home life. _But isn't flying me four hours away a bit much?_

Marco tore his gaze from the suitcases over to his empty desk. He wasn't sure how long divorces took to settle, but his mother urged him to pack for both warm and cool weather 'just in case' he ended up liking the city and wanted to stay longer. _As if..._ Nonetheless, this left him with no other option but to pack just about every thing he owned that the suitcases could hold; from clothing and pictures to electronics. With another sigh, this one more irritated, he rolled onto his stomach. He hadn't seen or spoken to his cousin in years. Why did he have to move in with her? _And in the city no less_. Marco had grown up in a decent sized town, the closest thing to resembling a city being the small business district half an hour away. It consisted of about twelve buildings, hardly miniature sky-scrapers. He'd been to nearby cities before, but none compared to the overwhelming size and population of Trost. _This is going to be Hell._

"Seraphine already has space cleared out for you. She sounds pretty ecstatic to see you after so long!" Marco's mother had said last night, stifling a giggle as she unloaded a bag or groceries.

"How can someone be excited to see someone she hasn't spoken to in years? She practically fell off the face of the Earth after high school." He'd grumbled, giving her a hand placing a can on a higher up shelf.

"Now, Marco, you know as well as anyone else in this house how...difficult her upbringing was. She probably just felt the need to get away and start over somewhere she wouldn't know anyone." she turned to run her hands under the running sink water she'd turned on.

"Sounds like a great influence to me." He quipped. Mrs. Bodt responded by flicking the remaining water on her hands towards her sulking son. He jumped in surprise and shared a laugh with her.

_Why can't things stay this way?_

He closed his eyes, attempting to refresh his memory of his cousin. Physically, she was very similar to him- sprinkled with freckles, olive skin, dark hair, and so on... He remembers both of their mothers oogling over their twin-like appearances. That was about all they had in common. Marco didn't hate his cousin, it was nothing of that sort. They'd just had a bitter falling out, which was probably one-sided, Marco presumed. When they were little, Seraphine, though three years his senior, would cling to him every time they were reunited. She would coddle and absolutely gush over him. The rest of the world was a different story. Anyone else who'd tried to approach her mind as well had walked themselves to the gallows. She was a fortress, and Marco had been one of the few she allowed in. Having a broken household will sometimes do that to a child, he remembered overhearing his mother say once.

Not much had changed as they grew into their teens. At least, not on the outside. Marco remained his shy but sociable self while he noticed his cousin, still cold to the world, become more and more detached from everything. They had attended the same high school now, so maybe seeing her so often had brought a new light to his perception of her. The thought crossed his mind several times. It wasn't hard to notice that without him, she was a loner, but this didn't seem to phase her. It was her body language that had thrown him for a loop. Where her shoulders used to hang at her sides in complete relaxation, they now hitched up in an uneasy stiffness. Her eyes, once glazed over in a seemingly constant state of daydream, now burned with concentrated thoughts and, the more obvious, hatred. Marco had known that her home life wasn't conventional. Maybe it had finally begun taking its toll on her. After graduation she'd gone M.I.A, not speaking a word to anyone. Not even her solace that had been Marco.

He shook his head rapidly, clearing the thoughts of the past from his head. Awkwardness or not, the decision had been set in stone (not by his accord, or course. His parents had already bought the plane ticket and asked Seraphine for this 'favor' even before informing Marco of the situation) and Marco would be boarding a one way plane to the chaotic city of Trost on the first of June. He pressed his face into the mattress. "This cannot be happening." He groaned.

* * *

"Watch it!" A young man with sharp teal eye barked, swerving around an all-black-clad server of taller stature.

"Excuse you, Jaeger? Your place isn't even in the ally. Get back behind the bar!" The server shouted, spinning on his heel to face the bartender, two light brown eyes narrowed as an eyebrow raised in criticism.

"Well maybe if _someone_ paid attention to their job, _I_ wouldn't have to come back here and do it for them." He scoffed as he turned the corner, spinning his body back to face the exit of the alley.

"That little shi-" Jean growled though clenched teeth.

"Alright, Jean, back to work!" The voice of one of the managers called to him over the chatter of the other bustling servers that had been scrambling around the alley.

"Yeah, yeah, Erd, I got it." With a quick roll of his eyes, Jean lifted his full tray of ready plates and headed out to the floor where the smooth sounds of the jazz music flowed.

No matter what time or day, 'Exquisine' was always packed from open to several hours after close. No bigger than a cheap (well, cheap by city standards) one story apartment, the restaurant had managed to make headlines on many of the city's top newspapers within the first year of opening. If the food and decor wasn't enough to keep business booming, the staff full of quirky youths was the stamp of ensured income for some time to come. The seldom seen owner-and-creator, Levi, had chosen his staff carefully, apparently having a very keen eye for what the public needed.

Jean could beg to differ. His eyes danced around at his tables, skillfully taking note of what tables needed what from such a distance. On his way back to the alley, he'd passed the bar lounge and heard that oh-so irritating laughter of Eren. He'd glanced over to see him pouring multiple drinks are once, some of the liquid missing the glasses and the bottle nozzle passed between them. Eren twirled the emptied bottle into the air before tossing it out. Jean uttered a quick 'tch' before giving his eyes yet another roll. How Levi saw that asshat as suitable for his job was beyond him. _Then again_... The corner of his lips curled downwards into a small scowl as he collected condiments and drink refills onto a smaller tray. _It wouldn't bother someone like Jaeger to blow his boss_.

"Connie! You're taking table twelve!" A raspy female voice called, lifting Jean's gaze in the direction of said voice. A tan, freckled girl leaned halfway into the alley entrance, her eyes darting to the servers passing by as they walked around her.

"What the hell, Nina! That's not even in my section!" A short haired boy called back.

"Talk to the lead host about it." She shrugged before holding a hand up to her left ear, pressing the earpiece. Connie let out a stream of curses under his breath before composing himself to approach his newly sat table. Lowering her hand from the earpiece, Nina strode over to Erd, who was in the middle of plating the many dishes ready to be served. Mid-stride she made eye contact with Jean, who'd given her a sly smirk. She returned the expression with a nod and approached the manager in front of her, discussing the seating arrangements for a walk-in party of twenty.

Nina had begun working at Exquisine almost a year after Jean and several other employees. She'd been quiet and reserved, and her expression did little to lead others to believe she was friendly. New to city life, it wasn't half bad to have a hardened look whilst walking the streets home alone at night. However, the influence of her coworkers and new found friends slowly began to break her out of her suffocating shell of solitude.

Lucky for Jean, she shared a sadistic sense of humor and was always up for a night of partying, so naturally they had hit it off instantly. Having a lead host as a server's ally was a very, very, fortunate thing. A well-trained host could tell which tables would be a hassle, and which a server could make bank off of, and Nina was such a host, earning Jean one of the highest tip averages of the other servers.

"Five tables is too much for twenty people, what is Sasha thinking?" Erd shook his head, wiping off the corner of a plate before garnishing it and handing it off to a waiting server.

"I told her that but you know how she is when she's scheduled as lead host. I'll put together one of Armin's tables and two of Jean's. I'm sure they can handle it."

Erd nodded and waved her off before returning to his task at hand. Back of house managers were far from fit for floor-talk, however the usual front of house manager, Hanji, had to go and break her leg while rock climbing. Don't ask. Jean had been on his way back onto the floor when he heard Nina relaying the message over her headset to the other hosts. He glanced over his shoulder at her, her lips moving quickly before she dropped her hand from the microphone cord and sighed. He could hear Sasha flipping a shit through the earphone. Jean took a sharp turn, breaking eye contact with the freckled host.

"Make that money." He heard her say before she rushed to the front of the restaurant and to the host stand where a girl with red hair pulled back into a messy ponytail awaited, arms practically flailing.

_I always do._ He nodded quickly to himself before getting back to work.

* * *

A majority of the guests had filtered out an hour after the restaurant had closed, leaving all but about three tables in the building. Employees both on and off the clock gathered around the bar and/or the host stand to talk about last night's shenanigans and those to come in just a few hours.

"No way, the last time we went there I got a drink thrown in my face, yet we were the ones kicked out." Eren gestured towards a much taller bartender who'd been polishing a wine glass. The second bartender raised his sage eyes from the glass and gave Eren a somewhat criticizing look before glancing across the bar at Reiner, a burly, blonde bartender as if asking 'he's kidding, right?'.

"Are you sure it isn't because you started a riot?" He asked softly.

"Yeah, well, they should have thanked me for giving them some form of publicity. That place was such a snooze fest." Bertholdt shook his head with a light chuckle before Eren continued, "Anyway, I heard this new club opened up a few blocks down. Let's go make ourselves known, hm?" He jerked his head in the direction of a blonde boy with the clearest of blue eyes. The blonde was recounting his tips before glancing up, his eyes suddenly darting just over Eren's shoulder. "C'mon Armin, what do you say? Feel like getting fucked up tonight?" Armin's eyes didn't budge as he jerked his head side to side.

"Eren-"

"Oh, don't be such a pansy. I'll make sure you don't puke in a cab again." He laughed.

"No, Eren-" Armin's brows furrowed and his jaw tightened.

"Or was it the whole getting a woody while dancing with some girl you-"

A hand gently came down on the bartender's shoulder, "Eren." A low voice came from behind him. Eren swallowed the rest of his sentence hard, eyes fixated on Armin, who reflected his fearful expression. The surrounding employees stared at the dark haired man with similarly wide eyes. Even those around the host stand looked on. "I'm sure you know by now the rules about language while you're still on the job." He stated, his hand now pressing hard into Eren.

"Y-yes, Levi, sir." Eren robotically turned his head towards the shorter man, sheepishly looking him in his darkly circled eyes.

"Good." Levi released his death-grip from Eren's shoulder, who let out a breath he'd been holding for minutes on end. "I also suggest you don't make complete fools of yourselves in the surrounding area. We have my good reputation to uphold." Eren uttered another 'yes, sir' and everyone choked back their laughter as the stern man walked away, motioning for a few of the servers to finish their check-outs.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Eren whispered harshly to Armin. The blonde boy shrugged and shook his head with a sigh.

Jean, Connie, and another server, Ymir, turned back to their conversation with the two hosts. Sasha had been complaining about their allowed breaks being too short, leaving her starving all the time in between. Ymir retorted that she'd snuck food up to the stand more than enough times to keep the red head satisfied. Sasha groaned in protest.

"Alright guys, are we doing something tonight or what?" Connie urged, playing with a pager.

"You guys go ahead. I've got prior arrangements." Nina said, swiftly snatching the pager back and placing it in its rightful charger.

"Seriously? You never turn down a night out. What's so important?" Jean cocked his head to the side.

"My cousin is moving in with me in a few days and I want to make sure he's got...enough.. roomwhatareyoustaringat?" The words rushed out, as she was now confronted with the bewildered looks on everyone's faces.

"You have a cousin?" Sasha's voice went up a few octaves.

"You have family members?" Connie followed suite.

Nina stared at the two as if they were a two-headed, bread-eating dragon. "Are you fucking with me? Why wouldn't I?"

"You never talk about your family." Jean said flatly.

"We figured you killed them all or something." Ymir added, everyone's heads jerking in her direction. She shrugged, "Someone had to say it."

"That's not completely random," Nina nodded, "but alas, my family lives on."

"So is this cousin of yours cute?" Connie leaned in, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. This earned him a slight elbow jab in the side from Sasha.

Nina lowered her eyes to one of her freckle-dawned wrists before raising them, a soft smile on her lips. "Absolutely adorable." She gave a soft laugh.

"Single?"

"I assume so."

Jean raised a brow now, "Well, what's her name?"

Confusion came and went from Nina's eyes in a flash.

"_His_ name is Marco."

* * *

AN: Alright guys, I haven't written in years. YEARS! I'm extremely rusty, and I apologize. I've had the urge to write for months now, but without any real plot in mind until the other day at work it hit me. _I'd just write about something real, relatable, and always interesting and_...**_ding_ **_Server Life here we go_!

I myself don't know how I feel about having an OC in my stories now, but she will be mentioned less and less as this goes on. Nina is definitly not me (as some people base their OCs, I guess?) however her attitude is based on Jessa (from the HBO series _Girls_).

I'll probably be posting this on AO3 at some point in my life. Maybe.

One more thing, if anyone has troule understanding restraurant lingo, don't hesitate to tell me! I'll gladly translate in the Author's Notes at the end =D


End file.
